Michel Sasseville
The practice of philosophical dialogue with children has been initiated by the American philosopher Matthew Lipman and by Ann Margaret Sharp. One goal is to develop critical and creative thinking by helping children to practice thinking skills. The classroom is thus turned into a community of inquiry in which children learn to ask questions, make hypotheses, look for examples and counter examples, identify assumptions, etc. in order to build meaning and resolve problems.
There will be a number of philosophy sessions (practical and theoretical) throughout this course in which we will read and discuss selected chapters from philosophy stories written for children. The main purpose of these sessions is to give us an opportunity to practice participating in a philosophical community of inquiry and reflect on that experience. There will also be sessions during which we will clarify the role of the facilitator in this kind of inquiry as well as exploring the concept of critical thinking.